Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine 2019, Vol 26, No 3, 511–513 CASE REPORT www.aaem.pl Nontuberculous mycobacterial skin disease in cat; diagnosis and treatment – Case report Monika Krajewska-Wędzina1,A-F , Agnieszka Dąbrowska2,A,D-E , Ewa Augustynowicz-Kopeć3,C,E-F , Marcin Weiner4,E-F , Krzysztof Szulowski1,F 1 National Veterinary Research Institute, Pulawy, Poland 2 Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Staplake Mount, Starcross, UK 3 Department of Microbiology, National Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland 4 Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education, Biala Podlaska, Poland 5 National Veterinary Research Institute, Pulawy, Poland A – Research concept and design, B – Collection and/or assembly of data, C – Data analysis and interpretation, D – Writing the article, E – Critical revision of the article, F – Final approval of article Krajewska-Wędzina M, Dąbrowska A, Augustynowicz-Kopeć E, Weiner M, Szulowski K. Nontuberculous mycobacterial skin disease in cat; diagnosis and treatment – Case report. Ann Agric Environ Med. 2019; 26(3): 511–513. doi: 10.26444/aaem/101579 Abstract Introduction. Mycobacterial diseases of humans and animals can be caused by mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (MOTT). The transmission of the infection primarily occurs via the respiratory or oral routes, but also via a damaged skin barrier. MOTT have high resistance to external factors; therefore, infected, undiagnosed animals can pose a risk for public health. Case report. The case study describes mycobacterial skin infection in a domestic cat. The correct diagnosis was reached four months after the appearance of the first clinical signs. Those were purulent, granulomatous lesions and fistulas, which could potentially act as a source of the infection for the owners and the veterinarian who cared for the animal. Conclusion. Despite using advanced diagnostic techniques, establishing the final cause of the cat’s illness was a lengthy process. The skin lesions could contribute to the transmission of the bacteria in the environment. Non-targeted treatments could also cause antimicrobial resistance. Key words mycobacteriosis, Mycobacterium fortuitum, MOTT, cats, nontuberculous mycobacteria INTRODUCTION systemic mycobacteriosis, and purulent-granulomatous skin and subcutaneous tissue inflammation [5]. Non-tuberculous mycobacteria are Gram-positive, aerobic The presented study describes a case of mycobacterial skin microorganisms, with a cellular wall composed of long chain infection in a cat. The disease was correctly diagnosed four of acid-fast and wax components. They can cause disease in months after the appearance of purulent skin lesions. The cat animals and humans, known as mycobacteriosis, in contrast lived in the household, therefore the purulent-granulomatous to bacilli of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex which skin lesions with fistulas were a potential source of infection cause tuberculosis. Bacilli causing mycobacterial diseases for the owners or other animals, and also for the veterinary are called MOTT (mycobacteria other than tuberculosis), surgeons in close contact with the cat. The bacilli from the NMT (non-tuberculosis bacteria) or atypical bacilli. The Mycobacterium category are very resistant to the external pathogenicity of non-tuberculous mycobacteria can vary factors, such as UV light and disinfectants; this survivability significantly, hence they are classified into groups: absolute means that infected, undiagnosed animals can pose a risk pathogens, facultative pathogens or saprophyte pathogens to public health. [1]. To date, approximately 160 species of NMT have been The most common mycobacterial disease affecting humans described. [2]. Atypical mycobacterial bacilli are common is the skin or pulmonary type [2, 6]. The number of the in the environment, including soil and water. They can also cases of pulmonary mycobacteriosis in the United States is survive in the amoeba and protozoal organisms [3]. increasing, and at present the statistics show that those cases There is an apparent dynamic increase of the newly- have a higher occurrence than tuberculosis [7]. Furthermore, discovered species which is related to the development of new treatment is difficult due to natural bacilli resistance to the molecular diagnostic methods. Despite this change, the division anti-MOTT drugs, which is why the prognosis is poor. into four main groups carried out in 1959 by Renyon [4] is still According to data published in 2010, 40% of the infected applicable. Additionally, based on phenotypic properties on the population die within five years [8]. growth medium, MOTT bacilli can also be divided into slow- growing mycobacteria (SGM), rapid-growing mycobacteria (RGM) or non-growing mycobacteria [5]. Infections caused CASE REPORT by the atypical bacilli can cause a granulomatous pneumonia, A male, 7-year-old cat which had been missing from the Address for correspondence: Monika Krajewska-Wędzina, National Veterinary Research Institute household for the previous five weeks, was admitted to e-mail: [email protected] the veterinary practice in May 2015. Clinical examination Received: 09.10.2018; accepted: 14.12.2018; first published: 12.04.2019 revealed multiple skin lesions and severe myiasis. The cat was 512 Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine 2019, Vol 26, No 3 Monika Krajewska-Wędzina, Agnieszka Dąbrowska, Ewa Augustynowicz-Kopeć, Marcin Weiner, Krzysztof Szulowski. Nontuberculous mycobacterial skin disease… sedated, larvae were removed and the wounds dressed. The debridement skin wounds are presented in Figure 1. The cat was treated for three weeks with amoxicillin with clavulanic acid. The treatment was ineffective and the veterinary surgeon changed the antibiotic to cephalexin, which was administered for three weeks. Despite the healing process in some of the wounds, fresh wounds also appeared. Clinical examination did not disclose any other symptoms except skin lesions. The swabs taken from the wounds had negative results – no growth of aerobic or anaerobic bacteria. Deep scrapings test results were also negative. Cytology confirmed purulent-granulomatous inflammation, and morphology results presented leukocytosis and moderated anaemia. Biochemistry of the blood had results within expected parameters. The results of diagnostic tests for antibodies titer for feline immunodeficiency virus and antigens for feline leukemia virus were both negative. Figure 1. The debridement cat skin wounds After four months of antibiotic therapy with no results, it was decided to carry out microbiological examination from humans and fish had the same genetic profile [6, 19, 20]. of the skin lesions towards mycobacteriosis. Material for Wild birds can also be a reservoir for the atypical bacilli in examination was taken from morphologically affected tissues the environment; therefore, they have a significant role in the collected from the wounds demarcation line and swabs were transmission of different species of the environmental bacilli taken from the fistulas. The slide was stained with Ziehl- and can potentially be a source of the infection for other Niehlsen and acid fast bacteria were detected. Following animals or humans [21]. It was previously considered that 10 days growth on Stonebrinck medium, the characteristic mycobacteriosis caused by MOTT are not zoonotic diseases, singular, white colonies were observed. Species identification but recently described cases prove otherwise [2, 6, 19]. was carried out with Hain molecular test (Genotype Cases of mycobacterial diseases are increasing globally. Mycobacterium CM test; Hain Life Science, Germany) [9]. In people suffering from chronic lung diseases or The strain was classified as Mycobacterium fortuitum. The immunodeficiency they can cause worsening of the primary susceptibility test for the 28 different antimicrobial drugs was disease [22, 23]. Despite the progress made in convential carried out with use of ATB VET, following the producer’s diagnostic techniques of the atypical mycobacteria bacilli, instructions (bioMérieux, Polska). Automatic reading of the the decision making process regarding treatment and results was performed by miniAPI®. Based on the test results, selecting the correct medication remains challenging [24]. treatment was selected: doxycycline at a dose of 10/mg/kg was This is partially due to the bacilli resistance to many anti- administered daily with food and the probiotic. The wounds bacilli drugs, and frequently there is a lack of correlation were dressed on a daily basis with chlorhexidine solution. between tests carried out in vitro and the effects of the After approximately two weeks of the doxycycline treatment, therapy in vivo. Additionally, increased resistance to sporadic vomiting occurred, therefore omeprazole at a dose ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin and moxifloxacin was observed of 1mg/kg was introduced. The vomiting stopped after two in the species of fast-growing bacilli isolated from clinical weeks of the treatment. The cat recovered after six months material collected from cats and dogs [25]. It is important to of antibiotic therapy. remember that the treatment of humans and animals infected with mycobacteriosis requires experience and cooperation between microbiologist and the clinician. DISCUSSION In the case described above, the differential diagnoses considered diseases instigating purulent-granulomatous skin Cases of mycobacterial infection are still rare, and are more infection